I don't own a Blu-Ray player yet either, but if anything makes me want to get one it's to finally see the Alastair Sim's "Scrooge" in all its restored glory, particularly since I've never actually seen this version. My personal favorite has always been the 1938 version with Reginald Owen as Scrooge (titled the same as the original Dickens tale).

If it includes a DVD as well, I might pick it up anyway. It'll be interesting to see what the deal is.

Yes, Green For Danger is a terrific film. In addition to the great Alastair Sim, this film also boasts the always wonderful Trevor Howard and Leo Genn. And as with 1951's Scrooge, Muir Mathieson conducted the music for this film as well.

As for the man in the mirror oversight, your theory is very plausible -- if they even spotted it in post-production. However, this slip-up actually should have been caught during the filming process when they viewed the daily rushes.

By the way, I could tell that you were a fellow classic movie buff by your reference to Babes In Toyland. I, too, only refer to this film by its rightful 1934 theatrical release title, and not its later reissue title of March Of The Wooden Soldiers.

Chip thanks for picking up on my love of BABES IN TOYLAND and ditto I could see how much you love the classic films from you posts - besides being the authority on The Yule Log you could just as easily being a authority on film history!     

I actually was a pen pal of Hal Roach in the late 1970's and 1980's - got some great Christmas cards and notes from him - Leonard Maltin actually forwaded my mail to Mr Roach and it was a joy to communicate with Mr R.  Amazingly he did not like BABES IN TOYLAD as it was the cause of major friction between him and Stan Laurel and was the catalyst for Laurel and Hardy later leaving the Roach Studios.   Today though it is the best known feature film produced by the studio with TOPPER, ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. and OF MICE AND MEN the other notable films that still are known as Hal Roach Productions.


I love the behind the scens stuff on movies - I had access to the legal files for MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET that are stored in UCLA granted to me by FOX and to read the evolution of that film is very interesting.  The film was originally going to star Dana Andrews along side Maureen O'Hara but just before filming was to start John Payne replaced Andrews!


I recently found the production designers sketches for THE BISHOPS WIFE and set costs which I am going to try to get copies of - Goldwyn had originally cast David Niven as Dudley but switched the roles giving Cary Grant the part.  Goldwyn also scrapped footage after seeing that the film was flat and started over with Grant playing Dudley!   There is a great story about the scene in the film where Grant and Young are looking out the window - the scene is shot in profile, when Goldwyn saw the footage he went nuts and confronted Loretta Young - Goldwyn was told that Young wanted to be filmed from one side - to which Goldwyn said "If we are only filming half your face I will pay you half your salary."

I fondly remember the years WPIX aired the film on Christmas Eve around 5:30 or so and then aired THE YULE LOG!


Best

I really don't think Charles Dickens was trying to imply that Scrooge spent a three full days in bed, but in the end it's anyone's guess as to what he really meant. Especially when you consider that in the book the third Spirit seems to appear to Scrooge right after the second Spirit vanishes.

In the end, though, it really serves no useful purpose in trying to parse Dickens words or to overanalyze the literal meaning of his text. Otherwise the whole beauty and poignancy of his overall message is regrettably lost. The important thing is the life lesson he was trying to convey.

Nevertheless, I went back to the book and I think the answer can be found at the beginning of Chapter two. It clearly states via Scrooge's words that there was a serious time warp at work here. When Scrooge awakes, he is astonished to find that the clock strikes twelve, even though when he went to bed it was past two. He then lies awake until the stroke of one, when the first Spirit appears to him. So it's quite clear that in the matter of time and space, there were serious celestial forces at work here.

As far as Alastair Sim's portrayal in the 1951 British film Scrooge; yes, it was indeed the quintessential performance. By the way, in case you haven't yet read it, I'll re-post below an excerpt from my previous post on this thread from November 22, 2009:


All movie versions of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol are adaptations of the book, which was a short story and had a very basic plotline as compared to the more elaborate movie screenplays. There are also some very distinct differences between the book and these theatrical film adaptations. For example, in the book, Scrooge's beloved sister, Fan, was a younger sister -- not older, as she was portrayed in feature-length film screenplays.

Also in the book, at the end of the story, Scrooge visits his nephew's house; he does not go to Bob Cratchit's house as portrayed in the 1938 MGM film that starred Reginald Owen. Hugo Butler, who wrote the screenplay for this 1938 adaptation, added that twist on the story himself. Another major deviation from the book in this 1938 screenplay (which, parenthetically, I found to be palpably weak) was the firing of Bob Cratchit on Christmas Eve. This was also the brainchild of Hugo Butler's artistic license.

While all movie screenplay adaptations are based loosely on the Dickens short story, the absolute best by far was the screenplay written by the great Noel Langley for the 1951 film Scrooge. This classic and legendary film is the definitive and quintessential version of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. It was brilliantly acted, directed and photographed and is universally accepted as being the greatest screen version of this timeless literary classic. Alastair Sim gave the ultimate performance of his life and the paradigmatic performance of the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge. And it is this performance and this movie by which all others are judged.